BANGKOK -A rogue Thai general who helped anti-government protesters and was shot by an unidentified sniper died Monday from his wounds, raising fears of new violence after five days of street battles that have killed 37 people in downtown Bangkok. A luxury hotel was the scene of a heated predawn gunbattle Monday and later closed its doors, while soldiers patrolled well-known tourist enclaves and the government set another deadline for protesters to vacate their barricaded street camps. The political conflict is Thailand's deadliest and most prolonged in decades, and each passing day of violence deepens divides in this nation of 65 million - a key US ally and Southeast Asia's second-largest economy. Thailand has long been considered a democratic oasis in Southeast Asia, and the unrest has shaken faith in its ability to restore and maintain stability. Tensions were expected to rise further with the news that Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol, a renegade army officer accused of creating a paramilitary force for the Red Shirt protesters, died Monday, the Vajira Hospital reported. His death came five days after he was shot in the head in downtown Bangkok while talking to journalists inside the perimeter of the protest zone. The attack on Khattiya, more popularly known as Seh Daeng, triggered widespread street fighting between anti-government protesters and the army in central Bangkok. The Thai government on Monday warned protesters barricaded within their "occupation zone" in the heart of the capital to leave by 3pm, saying anyone who remains there will be violating the law and will face two years in prison. "Immediately vacate the area that is considered dangerous," the government said in a televised announcement. "Terrorists are trying to cause deaths in the area." The announcement said buses will be provided to escort protesters out of their encampment and take them home.
